A bill titled "Safeguard our Seniors" (SB 1372/HB 981) would have provided much-needed protection for Florida's seniors by increasing the maximum penalty to five years in prison for some criminal annuities sales practices, including "twisting" or "churning" - intentionally misrepresenting the nature of the annuities they sell to seniors. The bill would have given law enforcement a valuable tool to use in the fight against unscrupulous annuities salesmen who prey on economically-vulnerable seniors.
Vernon Healy urged Rep. Pat Patterson, Chair of the House Insurance, Business & Financial Affairs Policy Committee to support the bill. While this important initiative passed multiple Senate committees, it ultimately stalled in the House Insurance Committee. Unfortunately, the Committee's inaction has deprived Florida's seniors of what could have been a strong deterrent against fraud and economic abuse.
View video clips from the Dateline NBC program "Tricks of the Trade," which uncovered serious misconduct by some annuities salesmen. Click here.
